Busy busy busy
June 12, 2010
No rest for the wicked at all - been on the go since we woke up this morning!! Met up with some friends for brunch and then had to reluctantly peel ourselves away to go shopping for the house.
All in all, a very productive day I think - we managed to find a bed and furniture for the bedroom and hopefully a dining table as well as a sofa (we think!!)
We will now need to go over to measure the house again to make sure that all of them will fit together before we place orders soon - I cant wait!
More furniture shopping and more chores tomorrow (clean, mop, wash, cook, iron watch football!) Will need a holiday to recover from the weekend
Another milestone
June 11, 2010
We are not even half way through the year yet... but loads of things have been happening - Rob reaching the top of Everest and back down safely; I received a rock; and now, yet another milestone - we have just gotten ourselves in a lot of debt, not even wanting to contemplate how many zeroes that make up our debt!! But its all well worth it - we are looking forward to setting up our new home and making it ours; it hasnt really sank in yet but... Should be lots of work but fun.
My rock ROCKS!
June 10, 2010
... Its lovely to be back home after a whirlwind trip to Malta, meeting with friends and family, Rob and co spending some time in the public eye, Bondi+, beach, sun, warm weather...
In a way, this trip was poignant as it marked the end of 18 months of living and breathing the 2 big mountains (amongst other things) Even though it felt really slow at that point, but it flew by very quickly. It was a tumultuous 18 months, filled with lots of upheavals, periods of uncertainties - are they going, are they not... excitement on their behalf when they finally set off onto the mountain, joy at their success, relief at their coming home safe and sound, emotions running high constantly (wouldnt be any other way, considering the expedition consisted of THREE MALTESE men!)
Its all over now, the expedition is behind us, and what a big success it was! Really proud of them... AND!!! I got a present - my rock ROCKS!! Its pretty and priceless!! Wont part it with any amount of money.
I'm a celebrity...
June 9, 2010
... dont get me out of here!!
Check out the E listed celebrities on Bondi+
http://public.di-ve.com/streaming/on_demand_media_streamer.aspx?id=3917&encoding=8&backUrl=streaming%2fon_demand_event_encoding.aspx%3fid%3d3917
I think fame has got into Rob's head - so much so that he is ordering me to shop for ingredients for a dish that he has promised to cook for me for the last 9 months. Now that he is a 'celebrity' he cant go shopping for groceries anymore, apparently!! hmptfft!!!
On a serious note, the footage of the Challenge8000 expedition taken by Greg is amazing and the scenery is breathtaking. It was a long hard climb and the boys did extremely well - very proud of them! Wish I was there on the mountain too! (or... mabbe not)
My Maltese Identity
June 6, 2010
its still sleepy o'clock - just sent vic off to the airport for his 0840 flight to Gatwick.
it has been a hectic few days but i must say it has been fun.
Arrived at the crack of dawn on friday morning with rob & vic, met by the gatt contingent at the airport. just the kind of welcome that we wanted. after a cup of coffee we rolled back into bed for a quick snooze before waking up for a bite to eat... victor was frantically preparing for his presentation the whole morning. before we knew it, 1pm rolled by and it was time to head to the airport for the long anticipated press conference, ron was our driver for the day, he is such a star. after inhaling some food, victor and robert were whisked into the arrivals hall to get their photos taken with greg and marco who just landed with air malta.
it was very entertaining for me to be an observer at the airport, with the welcoming committee and press waiting for marco and greg to come out of the arrrivals hall, with rob and victor slinking away in the background, with a pink duracell bunny as the offical mascot. lots of people made it, friends and neighbours of rob whom he hasnt seen for ages came with their families, people he played with when he was 3 years old (apparently he was as naughty then)... and that was very sweet
these articles probably captured the scene at the airport better than me writing sleepily at this hour -
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100605/local/you-dont-conquer-everest-you-conquer-yourself
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100604/local/maltese-who-conquered-everest-gets-heros-welcome
after the big welcome back, we were off to the press conference/talk, it was a bit of an information overload in my opinion as a press conference, but i really enjoyed it as a talk, especially of the slide show photos and with the boys giving their view of things and with victor's fascination with toilets. i especially enjoyed the photos - they captured the gist of their climb and the amazing scenery they encountered as well as the challenges they had to undertake on a daily basis.
it was then a mad dash back home with a few detours and pit stops for a very quick change and shower to pretty up before meeting the PM. we made it in with no minutes to spare - he was lovely and the speech he made was very complimentary. then there was another mad dash to the party venue. lovely end to a busy day and the homecoming of the boys. lots of people came along, to pass on their congratulations. rob enjoyed it heaps catching up with friends with whom he used to climb with when lyrca was still in fashion. rob and ron's dad are now 'considering' climbing the big e next year!
and i finally got to meet the people about whom i've heard so much about from cat and rog - the support trekkers. they are really lovely people... really friendly and sweet! i am now known as 'cat's sister' to them! i have also found out something that i didnt previously know about my sis - she is apparently very stubborn and determined (so much so that Victor is feeling sorry for rog!) everyone has such strong admiration about her determination and dog headed stubborn-ness and that is the very first thing they tell me. interesting fact!
we then crawled home and into bed (in Victor's case, quite literally)
saturday rolled by too quickly and we spent a good few hours talking and eating then, i was off to the beach with ron and lyd whilst vic and rob and greg decided to play spiderman up some rocks. beautiful day and great sea and lovely company - perfect. ahhh. then it was off to alec's house for a bite and drinks and lots of laughs. He showed me some amazing photos of Kili and zanzabar - i wanna go now!!
a new day starts today - some time by the beach, and meals with family and friends. looking forward to it.
Let the fun begin
June 4, 2010
We arrived in Malta early this morning, 3 am to be precise! Way too early and the flight was so uncomfortable, much worse than any of the budget airlines... but that's another story!
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100604/local/maltese-everest-climbers-return-today
Vic and Rob are preparing for their day in the limelight and 'really looking forward to it!' :D
First they have the press conference, then Victor gets whisked off to a secret location followed by a visit to the PM at 730 pm then a party!
I'll be standing around laughing myself silly! Cant wait
New Job
May 30, 2010
I wonder how I ended up with a new full time job since the end of March - I dont even remember applying for the job much less getting it!
A typical conversation goes:
Rob "Ange, what are our plans for today?"
Me "Well, we have dimsum lunch at 1:00 pm with so and so and then dinner will be at Maggie Jones. On Sunday, we have brunch with Joanna, nothing else planned until drinks on Monday with friends at this pub. On Tuesday, this needs to get done and then blahblahblahblah"
I have become a PA to Rob!! Although I must say I am glad he is back and he can have my job back! I quit!
p.s. I am pleased to announce that Rob's 10 fingers and toes are fine and still attached have no sign of frost bites at all - Thank God, although he does have a touch of frost nip from breaking the trail on the way to the summit. He has lost a lot of weight, even his fingers have gone skinny, and even my cousin commented that it felt like hugging me when she hugged him on his return. Its feeding time at at the moment - constant eating in progress!
